Carolyn Rice

Carolyn B. Rice, age 78, passed away gently and peacefully Sunday afternoon, Jan. 17, 2021, at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte, following a four-month battle with cancer. Born in 1942 in Mount Airy, Carolyn graduated from Mount Airy High School in 1961. She won the title of Miss Mount Airy in 1961 and represented her home town in the Miss North Carolina Pageant that same year. She pursued her passion for healthcare at Pfeiffer College and, after three years nursing training at the Bowman Grey School of Medicine at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, ultimately graduated with her B.S. in Nursing from Pfeiffer in 1966. In 1964 she married and, within two years, moved to Concord, to raise a family but divorced in 1980. In 1982 she married Charles Rice of Salisbury, who was plant manager for Cannon Mills Plant #3 and Plant #19 in York, South Carolina, where she relocated to raise her four children. While living in York, Carolyn continued her dedication to serving others as a registered nurse at then-Divine Savior Hospital before going to Family Medicine Associates. As a registered nurse she was dual-licensed in both North Carolina and South Carolina as a long-term care and assisted living administrator which brought her to a variety of facilities in St. George, Edgefield, Lancaster, and Spartanburg. Towards the end of her career she served as Nurse Manager, surveying long term care facility compliance for the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). She was preceded in death by her late husband Charles Rice, father-in-law Charles Wilson Rice, mother-in-law Kate Rice, and father Arthur Bishop. She is survived by her mother Dorothy Bennett Bishop; sister-in-law Sara Rice; her four children: Wesley Pruett, Steve Pruett, Kathy Sandifer, and David Pruett; son-in-law Trey Sandifer; two daughters-in-law: Laura Pruett and Lian Cui; and nine grandchildren: Weston, Hayden, Elleigh, Bennett, Alexander, Althea, Grace, Benjamin, and Joseph. The family will receive friends at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Clover, South Carolina (1550 St. Paul Church Road, Clover SC 29710) on Friday, Jan. 22, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Masks and social distancing required. A private family burial will take place the following day. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly asks that donations be made in Carolyn's name to Hospice and Community Care (2275 India Hook Road, Rock Hill, SC, 29732) via their website: http://www.hospicecommunitycare.org/. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.brattonfuneralhome.com. Bratton Funeral Home in York, South Carolina is serving the Rice family.